Promises
by The Delectable Miss Pond
Summary: The Other Doctor and Cleaves' ganger survive on each others promises. But can they keep them? I suck at summary, sorry! Rated T to be safe and possibilities later on.  .


**Ok, so, new Doctor Who fic! This is the intro, I really hope I can finally crackdown and write a full story this time! It's not that good, but during series six, I really wanted an Other Doctor and Cleaves spinoff, cause I always have this idea that they survived in some way, after all, he did say 'There may be a way back from this', and I was rather surprised that I couldn't find a fic about them. So here's my attempt; if people like this part then I shall write more. Please R&R x**

Once upon a time, a young girl would look up at the stars.

She would sit down on the grass and watch them carefully. They were all different; there were dim ones, bright ones, near ones, ones that made shapes if you linked them up with others. She often dreamed that she could walk among them, explore them, just like the gangers who were sent up there. It was what she always wanted, not an ambition, as such, for she knew it was pretty impossible, but something she wished her hardest for. Her room was full of discarded stories and drawings, depicting all the places she would go, the people she would meet, the stars she would discover. Things which would never happen.

This obsession would always affect her knowledge; she knew almost everything, not just about astrology, but anything scientific, yet huge gaps formed in subjects like geography and art. For example, she could never name the nine continents, but she could name any constellation from an image in a matter of seconds. Or she would always forget the names of the great pop artists of the 20th century, but she could recite the periodic table backwards without hesitation. These regular outbursts of knowledge would never impress her peers, but it was what she liked doing, so any disagreement people had was irrelevant.

Every night she would sit out in her garden – a large one to compliment the house which her father, being a shareholder in the Morpeth-Jetsan firm, could afford – and just watch the stars, for hours upon end. She fell asleep frequently, lying on the grass. She like it outside, though; she found it peaceful and comforting, and much preferred it to the technology which all the other children at school were using. She would sleep, because she could dream of the stars, and if she was amongst them then she was sure that it would be far easier to dream about them.

Once upon a different time, another girl, but much older than the girl before, whooshed and zoomed and spiralled around them. She was in awe and amazement adoring every second. It was exciting, and thrilling, and basically the most brilliant thing which could ever happen to her.

She had met someone; someone who she wasn't quite sure about. He had just sort of turned up, barged in, but at the right moment. Everything had gone wrong, after he came, that was, yet it had all also gone right. He was the most odd, confusing, alien man you could ever hope to meet, but he was also the most amazing, fabulous and consequently perfect one too. And she had stayed with him, died with him, survived with him too. And now they travelled the universe together, in a little blue box, saving stars from going out, planets from dying, and species from extinction. He wore strange clothes, and spoke with a voice which made him sound years older than he looked, but she liked all these strange facts about him, because she could enjoy herself with him. He asked for nothing in return, just for a companion and her love, which she gave him happily, for he would have it without asking.

She was nothing special; she hadn't done anything brave or miraculous in return for this. He chose her because she had been there. Stayed with him even when she thought they were both going to die, and a happy thought had saved her. A wish for excitement, and adventure, and love, and he promised her that if she stayed alive he would give her all that, and so she did. And he wished simply for company, which she promised him, so they both survived on the promise of each other. Promises which were kept, which somehow ended up with them travelling the stars together. But it wasn't just because of that; they liked each other very much, therefore enjoyed the other's friendship.

One day, when the first young girl was asleep beneath the stars, the little blue box of the second somehow ended up in her garden. It hadn't meant to, it had just sort of ended up. And the man got out and saw the little girl on the grass, and softly shook her.

"Miranda." He said gently . "Are you awake?"

And the girl shook her head. Because she wasn't really awake. But still, the man sat down next to her and looked up at the stars too. "They're very pretty, aren't they?"

She lifted her head a little and nodded. "You're looking at Ursa Major. There, that one. It looks a bit like a bear, if you tilt your head that way. There's a brilliant Greek legend about it too, have you heard it?"

The man nodded slowly. "Its tail points to the north star, which people think is the brightest star in the sky, but it isn't."

"That one's actually Ursa Minor, but you were close." She laughed slowly.

He laughed too. "You're still showing me up and you're only ten."

"Am I dreaming?" She smiled at him delicately.

"Why would you be dreaming, Miranda?"

"Well, I usually dream about the stars, and you're a spaceman, aren't you?"

He paused a little and smiled back. "I do come from the stars, but I wouldn't call myself a spaceman."

"Oh." Her face fell a little and she fell back onto the grass. "I've always wanted to meet a spaceman."

He tucked a blanket around her. "Yes, Miranda. You're dreaming."

"Oh well. It was nice to meet you anyway, Mr Spaceman."

"Yes." He nodded. "It was very nice to meet you too. Because you're very special, you know."

She opened her eyes a little and laughed again. "I'm not special to everyone. Just to some people." And with that, she closed her eyes once more.

He leant down, tucked her in, and then kissed her forehead. "You're very special to me, Miranda Cleaves. So very, very special. But I'm sure you're very special to lots of people, not just some."

But she didn't reply, for she had already fallen asleep again.

The man stroked her head, and then walked back to the box. The girl was waiting at the door for him, and smiled as he walked in. He shed a small tear, but did not cry.

"Where to next, Miranda?" He asked the girl.

"How about the stars. Ursa Major, Mr. Spaceman?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

And so the girl and the spaceman walked hand in hand, and explored the stars once more.


End file.
